1st Goodwill-Operated Grocery Store in the Works

Goodwill is getting into groceries in one part of the United States. A local affiliate of the nonprofit known for its retail thrift stores is opening a grocery store in Roanoke, Va.

According to local media reports, the store is called The Market on Melrose and is located at the existing Goodwill Roanoke Jobs Campus at 2502 Melrose Avenue in that city. The supermarket is part of a broader project that includes a community wellness center and adult high school.

[Read more: “Indy Fresh Market Brings Relief to Urban Food Desert”]

Mindy Boyd, COO of Goodwill Industries of the Valleys, told television news outlet WDBJ that the store will be run by that group but the Goodwill name and logo won’t be visible to consumers. “The overall concept here is to provide a full-service grocery store, access to fresh fruits, vegetables, meats, in an area of the city, which is considered a food desert where people don’t have access to these things easily,” she explained, adding that donated foods will not be part of the assortment, compared to Goodwill-run thrift stores that carry things like clothes and furnishings. “All the groceries that come into the grocery store will come in through our wholesaler, but we also hope to offer a local component so local farmers, people who have local items made baked goods are things of that nature that they may want to sell.”

Earlier, Boyd told another local media source that this will be the first full scale grocery store in Goodwill’s national network.

The Melrose Plaza space is expected to open at the end of 2024. In late September, Goodwill Industry of the Valleys reported that the project will break ground within the next few months, now that the group has received rezoning approval and chosen a construction engineering firm. Richmond, Va.-based Kjellstrom + Lee will develop Melrose Plaza.